NASA asteroid strike WARNING: Earth strikes ‘increase THREEFOLD’

EARTH is being bombarded by an spate of potentially apocalyptic asteroids strikes, NASA data has revealed.

Deep space is a dangerous place, with deadly radiation doses, freezing temperatures and unimaginable pressures. And even Earth is not totally immune from extraterrestrial peril because exceptional circumstances see our planet pummelled by space rock. Now data released by US space agency NASA has revealed the asteroid impact rate is actually increasing.

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Apollo 11: Some of the research data used Apollo samples (Image: Getty)

“Over time these rocks get bombarded by sunlight and there is a process which re-emits this energy, and basically gives these fragments a tiny nudge, which can then send them on a collisional path towards Earth.

“It is a bit like a rising tide; you have a lot of material coming out of the asteroid belt at one point.”

Dr Gernon, however, is at pains to stress how rare Earth apocalyptic impacts are even if the probability is doubled or even tripled, saying: “There is no need for people to worry about this increased flux.

“We are saying large asteroid impacts – more than 1 km across – went from one every 3-5 million years prior to 90 million years ago, to roughly 1-2 every million years.”

Asteroid strike: NASA has a dedicated program for monitoring Near Earth Objects (Image: Getty)

And although this represents an increase, asteroids strikes are random events, so does not mean Earth is overdue for another collision.

And additionally, NASA has a dedicated program for monitoring Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

All of the space junk that are potentially hazardous to earth are being monitored and there is a US defence department who work with NASA who keep an eye on impact risks.

The University of Southampton’s Dr Gernon believes we can learn a lot about Earth from looking at the Moon.

He said: “We can all see those pockmarks on the Moon and it is just fascinating to look at them and think we can exploit data being collected as speak to further our understanding of how our Earth has been affected by these events over time.”